Patrick Ness: A Monster Calls (Revisited)

I know I posted about this book a couple of years ago, but I just wanted to take a second and highlight it again. I just finished this for another time through (probably my fourth or fifth time reading it). I can't say it enough: I LOVE this book. It gets me every time I finish it (even like four times later).

I convinced my mom to read it, at a time when we're watching her parents struggling with illnesses and conditions we know aren't treatable. And it's hard. And we're so far away. And it just sucks. I hadn't even thought about them, when I suggested it, because I just wanted my mom to read it. She came back to me and told me how much she loved it. She finished it in one day, and her reaction was, "It allows you to feel however you feel about death and terminal illness. It shows that whatever you feel is ok and if you are honest with yourself you can be ok too."

And as I said in my last review: Losing loved ones is a universal experience of being humans. That is entirely part of the human experience. Probably one of the hardest parts. I still think that everyone should read this book!

Comments

Brandon Sanderson: The Lost Metal - Wax & Wayne (Mistborn Era 2) Book 4

I finally finished Mistborn era 2! I loved this series so much (though I think I love era 1 the most still). This story was an incredible addition to Scadrial's story. In this final installment, we pick up in Elendel at a time of great uncertainty. The outer cities are threatening war, their tentative alliance with the Malwish is falling apart over the Bands of Mourning, and Wax is still in the middle of all of it. Now serving on the senate, Wax is desperately trying to help the Elendel nobles maintain peace while hunting the Set. Unsuccessful thus far at locating his sister, the leader of the Set, Wax is still trying to uncover her plans. Can Wax, Marasi, and Wayne uncover the Set's plans before the invasion of Trell crushes Scadrial? This was a fitting conclusion for Mistborn's second era. I loved the character development we saw in each of the characters: Marasi, Wax, Wayne, and Steris. I love the involvement of some era 1 characters (one who I am not going to spoil), a...

Brene Brown: Daring Greatly

Brene Brown is one of my favorite TED speakers of all time. I have listened to her TED talks numerous times and used them in my classroom each year. I love her message: that we can't have success, innovation, change, and creativity without first having vulnerability. I love that she is seeking to demystify vulnerability and teach what shame is and how it destroys our ability to accept ourselves and others. I am not normally into the self-help kind of books, but of the books I've read this year, this is one of my favorites! Daring Greatly by Brene Brown discusses the concepts of shame and vulnerability and how we need vulnerability, but not shame. She gives strategies for combating shame and becoming "shame resilient." She gives strategies to use as parents, teachers, friends, and spouses. For one thing, I love Dr. Brown's Texan accent (she narrates the audiobook herself! 💗). Her voice and personality are all throughout this book. She is not afraid to use persona...

Ruta Sepetys: The Fountains of Silence

I love historical fiction, so when my book club (of English teachers) picked this one, I was really excited to read it. The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys is about a boy named Daniel Matheson who travels to Spain in the 1950s. The leader of Spain, Franco, is ruthless and has an iron hold on his people. Daniel's father is an oil tycoon who wants his son to take over the business, while his mother is from Spain. Daniel doesn't want to join his father's business. He wants to become a photographer. His goal while in Spain is to take pictures worthy enough of a contest that he's working on. While there, Daniel meets Ana, a maid at the Hilton Hotel he's staying at. Ana is assigned to Daniel's family and attends to their every need. Ana's family is poor and this is an incredible job opportunity for her. Ana's family needs this job. Ana and Daniel become friends and start to fall in love with each other, something Ana seems hesitant about and Daniel kno...

Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

Search This Blog